The Sydney Sandakan Memorial located in Burwood Park was officially opened by the Honourable Paul Keating, Prime Minister of Australia, on 1 August 1993. This memorial pays tribute to those brave Australian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of our great nation at Sandakan.

At Sandakan, twenty-three of the almost 2500 allied prisoners of war were from the Burwood municipality. For this reason, our memorial also serves as a daily reminder to locals of Australia's greatest war time atrocity.

Each year the Committee holds a Remembrance Service at the memorial on the first Sunday of August commencing at 11:00am. The Sandakan Community Education Committee seeks to raise public awareness of the infamous Sandakan - Ranau Death Marches and to educate Australians about this horrific period in our history.

Burwood Council has developed a close relationship with the people of Sandakan. All Australians acknowledge and are forever indebted for the support and kindness that was given to our troops during their period of imprisonment by the Japanese.

The wonderful spirit of cooperation between our nations has been greatly enhanced over the past sixty years. This bears testimony to the mutual respect and admiration we hold for each other because of the shared tragic losses endured at the hands of a common aggressor.

On behalf of the family and friends of our brave young men who fought for a common cause, thank you and Lest We Forget.